The Yankees flameout witnessed yesterday was a long time coming. Alex Rodriguez is 37 years old. He cannot hit righties. Now that I think about it, he can’t hit lefties either.

The Yankees, just three short postseasons ago, reaped a championship with their obscene investment. It was a championship in which A-Rod was viable. He contributed. Now, we have to ask. Has Alex Rodriguez’s performance-enhanced past caught up with him?

Epic slumps are not unprecedented. Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers went 0 for 21 in the 1952 postseason. However, Hodges was 28. Rodriguez is not. Manager Chuck Dressen still started him in all seven games. Rodriguez was not.

That was obviously a different age. Hodges was a Brooklyn icon. Again, A-Rod is not. Fans sent religious objects to him. A-Rod gets phone numbers. Hodges also did not have a huge salary across his shoulders. A-Rod? Well, you get the point.

Besides, there was no wildcard, division or championship rounds in those days. There was hardly time for a pattern to develop. Good pitching and solid role players came to the forefront in the postseason. With all due respect, Joe Girardi’s mass benching of key players would have looked like sheer panic in those days.

Maybe, all dynasties fade. Players do fall apart. Derek Jeter’s ankle snapped making a play he has made time after time. Mariano Rivera fell apart jogging for a fly before a game.

This A-Rod inevitability has been a long time coming. However, he has a contract for five more years. He is owed $114 million. The Yankees ignored the warning signs.

It could be argued that the golden age of the entire Yankees franchise was from 1995 through 2000. They won four World Series and just missed twice. The New York Yankees were home-built and fundamentally as sound as this organization has ever been.

Hard to imagine, I know.

The five cornerstones were Rivera, Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. They were homegrown. The only reason they stayed together was because George Steinbrenner was suspended. It allowed Gene Michael to hold on to the prizes the organization had wisely cultivated.

Once the Yankees pursued A-Rod for the 2004 season, they became the flawed suitor in some old nursery tale. The Yankees have won exactly one World Series in nine seasons with A-Rod. They are not a dynasty anymore.

Can dynasties even exist anymore? Since Luis Sojo dribbled a hit up the middle in the fifth and final game of the 2000, there have been nine different champions in the past 11 Series. Don’t get me wrong. Democracy is good for baseball. It also seems to be a trend.

As Tyler Kepner of the New York Times pointed out recently, sound management counts. He particularly points out the “know-thyself” regime of the DeWitt family and the smart folks hired to run the Cardinals.

The Yankees in all truthfulness were disgraceful this postseason. With their payroll of $197 million, they flopped around like 42-year-old Willie Mays in the 1973 World Series. Nonetheless, the Yankees made their deal with the Fates. They sold their soul and now they’ll have to pay $114 million to get it back. If they don’t, postseasons like this will become far more common.

Hey there, hardball fans! Spring Training is in full swing, and unfortunately, that means that it’s time for the injury bug to bite. Plenty of teams are adjusting on the fly as players go down with injuries both major and minor. This week’s edition of the Roster Report will focus on a couple of recent injuries that are opening up roster spaces across the league, especially one young player with a career just starting out. On the other end of the spectrum, an old friend returns to his old stomping grounds in an unexpected twist. All this and more in this edition of the Roster Report.

The New York Yankees sign SP Andy Pettitte to a $2.5MM minor-league deal.

Yeah, I’m not sure anyone saw this one coming. Fresh off the heels of adding two solid starters (Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda) this off-season, the Yankees have gone ahead and added yet another starter. Surprisingly, Andy Pettitte has emerged from his retirement to pitch again for the Yankees, and one should imagine that the team wouldn’t ink Pettitte unless they planned to use him in the rotation. I’m sure the Bronx faithful are happy to see their old favorite back in the House That YES Built, and once he’s ready to pitch, he’ll slot right in for regular work every fifth day.

So why would the Yankees be in the market for another arm? Word on the street blogosphere is that the Yankees are worried about Michael Pineda‘s Spring Training velocity. If Pineda is ineffective, or needs additional work in the minor leagues, the Yankees will have a pretty serious hole in their rotation. But don’t the Bombers already have Freddy Garcia waiting to take the last slot in the rotation if that were the case? The truth of the matter is, you can never have too much starting pitching depth. Considering how many times pitchers get banged up and have to miss time, there’s no reason not to add another starter. And Pettitte wasn’t too shabby in his last go-round with the Yankees, posting a 3.28 ERA and a 3.85 FIP. Garcia should be able to slide into a relief or swingman role if he’s not already in one when Pettitte comes back. As for Pineda, if he’s healthy and there’s no space in the rotation for Pettitte, Phil Hughes could probably move into the relief role where he had such success.

In the end, there’s very little downside to this deal for a team like the Yankees. Two and a half million dollars for a player likely to be an average-or-better starter, even for part of a season, is a good deal. If the Yankees have too many starters, well, that’s a problem most teams would like to have. I’d bet the Red Sox wish they could get a player of Pettitte’s caliber at that price.

Kansas City Royals C Salvador Perez is out for 3-4 months with a knee injury.

Fresh off the heels of an awesome new five-year contract, 21-year-old Royals catcher Salvador Perez is out. It appears that Perez will need surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, and could miss anywhere from 12 to 14 weeks. A knee injury has to be especially rough on a catcher, but Perez was ready to prove his contract (and 2011 performance) were no fluke. Pena’s .331 average in limited action last season is an oft-sourced statistic, but he has the potential to play at an above-average level beyond just a decent batting average. With the injury and rehab time, one shouldn’t expect Perez to get too much development time, and this could turn out to be a lost year for the young backstop.

Brayan Pena is now the full-time catcher for the Royals, which is not good at all. Pena is below-average hitter, according to his career wRC+ of 71. No matter how good defensively Pena is, it won’t make up for his bad bat. There aren’t too many catchers available on the open market, though I hear Ivan Rodriguez could use a job. Pudge hasn’t been too effective recently, but would provide veteran leadership on a young Royals squad. The Royals have dreams of contending soon, and they’ll need every bit of help they can get to beat out the Tigers. There’s not a player in house that’s capable of taking on more responsibility behind the plate with Perez out, so adding a player through trade or free agency should now be a priority. Maybe Jorge Posada‘s ready to follow Pettitte’s lead and will be the next guy to come out of retirement?

Quick Hits

New York Mets third baseman David Wright has a minor abdominal tear, and while he says that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, never trust a DL estimate from the Mets. If Wright isn’t ready to go to start the season, one would probably expect Justin Turner to get most of the spots in Wright’s place. As for who might make the team on a temporary basis, I’d expect Josh Satin (or Zach Lutz) to get the call if Wright looks to miss extended time, but don’t overlook C/3B Lucas May either. May looked solid defensively in the Tigers-Mets Spring Training game, and he’s proved to be a reasonable hitter at the minor league level.

Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins has some left knee inflamation, so he may miss some time but should be ready by April. If Stanton had to miss time, the Marlins are actually in pretty decent shape with Bryan Petersen. Not only is Petersen the star of an online webseries, but he’s also an underrated player. Petersen hits well (.334 wOBA) and showed solid defensive chops (5.6 UZR) in the outfield last season. But Stanton is one of the most exciting young hitters in baseball, and if he misses any time, the Marlins will suffer.

Hey there, hardball fans. Welcome to another edition of the Roster Report. With most of the off-season roster movement finished, it’s time to take a long look at a few recent decisions (and an injury) that will affect roster composition for a few squads. If you’re the fan of the Athletics, the Astros, or the Yankees, you may want to keep reading.

The Houston Astros name SP/RP Brett Myers closer.

Rather unexpectedly, the Astros announced yesterday that Brett Myers will be moving back to the bullpen, and should open the 2012 season as the closer for the Astros. This adjusts expectations both for the bullpen and the rotation, as Myers had been a fixture in the Houston starting rotation since coming over from the Phillies in 2010. Myers hasn’t been particularly good recently, posting a 4.46/4.26/3.75 ERA/FIP/xFIP triple-slash line. Myers has always performed worse than his xFIP has indicated, but in 2011 he was especially snakebitten by runners on base. Myers has a tough time striking out hitters, so it seems his main strength lies in his ability to throw 200 innings a year. That doesn’t exactly help him in the ‘pen.

Now, instead of Myers holding down a role in the rotation, spots will go to Wandy Rodriguez, Bud Norris, J.A. Happ, and Jordan Lyles. The fifth spot could perhaps go to newly-acquired young pitchers Kyle Weiland and Brett Olberholtzer. Instead, initial reports say that it is more likely that a veteran, either Livan Hernandez or Zach Duke, will fill the fifth starter role. To me, this is a huge mistake. The Astros need to find young talent where they can, and there’s little to no chance that Hernandez or Duke will be a tradeable asset or a valuable piece of the team going forward. This move could likely do nothing to either improve the rotation today or develop young talent, which would be a mistake.

I had previously expected hard-throwing righty David Carpenter to win the closing job in Houston for the coming season, but swapping Myers into that role probably won’t affect the won-loss record of the team. Moving Myers to the closer spot may make him more attractive as a trade candidate, but teams haven’t been falling all over themselves to acquire Myers and his But if the ‘Stros could pass off David Carpenter as a real closer, he’d have some real trade value himself. Pitchers like former Astro Mark Melancon (and Andrew Bailey…and Sergio Santos…and Sean Marshall) have brought back good young pieces in trade. These are things that If Myers becomes a closer, then he obviously comes up to fantasy baseball relevance as a low-tier closer.

If the move opens up space for a young pitcher in the rotation, then this is probably a solid move for a team looking to develop young talent. And if this move convinces another franchise that it’s worth it to trade for Brett Myers, well that’s probably a good deal in and of itself. But if they’re moving on from Myers to fit Hernandez or Duke in the rotation, then they’re just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Oakland Athletics 3B Scott Sizemore is out for the 2012 season with a torn ACL.

You know, the Oakland Athletics need another position battle. Unfortunately, incumbent third baseman Scott Sizemore suffered an ACL injury that will keep him out for the entire upcoming season. This injury makes something completely obvious: the Athletics have precious little infield depth. Either Eric Sogard or Adam Rosales could step in and fill in at third, but neither player has skills that really profile at the hot corner. Both players have even less bat than Sizemore (who’s a good, but not-yet-great with the stick), so it would behoove them to find someone who is not currently on the 25-man roster as a replacement.

Initial word out of Oakland is that catcher Josh Donaldson will get first crack at the starting gig with Sizemore out. Donaldson probably isn’t a good enough hitter to be a major league catcher (95 wRC+ in Triple-A), so I’d be surprised if he will stick at third. In all honesty, the A’s probably need to go out and add another player. Trade candidates are out there that include players like Juan Francisco, Daniel Murphy, or Alberto Callaspo. I’d expect the Athletics to target low-cost, high-control players who could stick with the team for several seasons in trade. There’s been no rumor to the effect, but I wonder if there’s any chance the A’s would look into moving former SS and current CF prospect Grant Green to the hot corner. But as it stands now, the Athletics have a huge hole that needs to be filled pronto.

The New York Yankees sign RP David Aardsma to a one-year, $500K deal.

David Aardsma may be most famous for being the MLB player who is listed first alphabetically by last name. But now, he’s going to be a late-inning pitcher for the Bronx Bombers once he recovers from Tommy John surgery. Aardsma was quite effective as a closer for the Mariners in 2009 and 2010, saving 69 games over those two seasons. The journeyman reliever sports a career 4.20 ERA and 4.24 FIP, but he has outperformed both these numbers over the last two seasons, showing that the could still be in his pitching prime. The only open question is whether or not he will be able to recover from his TJ surgery and perform at the level which he is accustomed.

If he comes back strong at the end of this year, expect the Yankees to pick up an option for 2013 at $500K. Could Aardsma then be the next man up if Mariano Rivera were to retire at the end of the season? Probably not…that’s probably David Robertson‘s slot to lose. I also don’t imagine Aardsma will have much of a fantasy impact this season…though he could have a little value in holds leagues as a late waiver pickup. But first, we’ve got to see that he’s able to recover from his injury.

Quick Hits

Word is coming out from Mets camp that former Cy Young-winner Johan Santana may actually be ready to pitch by Opening Day. Santana would solidify a Met rotation without top-end talent, and would probably be the #1 starter by default. If he is able to go, expect the Met rotation to shake out with some combination of Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Dillon Gee. If Santana can’t step into the rotation right away, expect journeyman-poet Miguel Batista to hold down the last spot in the rotation until he’s ready.

The Angels have been talking all winter about shoring up their bullpen (or even bringing in a closer to displace Jordan Walden), but now they’ve added another arm to their ‘pen in Jason Isringhausen. Izzy, formerly of the Mets, Athletics, Cardinals, and Rays, picked up a few saves (including his 300th) in Flushing last season, but he’s probably not a guy to rely on in the ninth. Instead, he’ll provide veteran presence and a few strikeouts (8.43 K/9 in 2011) as a setup arm in Anaheim – at least as long as his right arm holds up.

A wave of catchers retired over the last week or so. Three very solid veterans of different stripes called it quits: Jorge Posada, Jason Varitek, and Bengie Molina all are officially calling it quits for 2012. Posada is probably headed for the Hall of Fame as one of the most potent offensive catchers of the last thirty years. Jason Varitek will never have to buy a beer in Boston, and should see his number retired, but doesn’t have the offensive chops to find a home in Cooperstown. And Molina, despite being an effective backstop for a decade, never had a transcendent season but was a long-time starter. All three of these players might be joined by another great catcher, Ivan Rodriguez, if he doesn’t hook on soon.

This off season has taken a bit of a toll on the active rosters around baseball. A few household names have decided that playing the game was to become a thing of the past for them. Here is a quick look at the players that we will not see in an active role in 2012 as well as their final season and overall stats for their careers.

Jorge PosadaThe Yankee backstop had a tumultuous 2011 that seen him find his way to the bench for an extended period of time. A catcher that will go down in history as an all around player on multiple championship teams, as well as a player that spent his career in one city, Posada is loved in New York and respected every where else.

Orlando CabreraConsidered one of the premier shortstops of his time not that long ago, the O-Dawg has decided that his playing days are through. The thirty-four year old from South Carolina spent ten seasons in Major League Baseball playing for five different teams. Rather symmetrically, Hudson spent exactly half of his career in each of the two leagues in baseball.

Craig CounsellThe super utility infielder has spent sixteen big league seasons patrolling every infield position and even a game in the outfield here and there. His days with the Diamondbacks early on, and his involvement in their championship run, may be the defining moments of his career.

Adam EverettOur second thirty four year old shortstop on the list is calling it a career. A defensive player that spent the majority of his career in Houston put a bow on his eleven year tour as a member of the Cleveland Indians.

Pat BurrellWe have just found out recently that “Pat the Bat” would be retiring rather than returning to the grind of 162 games. Burrell, thrity five years old, spent the majority of his career in Philadelphia before spending time in Tampa Bay and then, ultimately, retiring as a San Fransisco Giant.

Side Notes
Outfielder J.D. Drew, pitcher Tim Wakefield and catcher Jason Varitek have all mentioned retirement at different points and time this off season, though none have officially announced they would hang it up. With Drew, it is hard to say. He is very much a player that will talk about, and has talked about, retirement when there is a lack of interest in his services. Wakefield has mentioned retirement but has also stated a strong desire to return the Red Sox, if they will offer him a contract. It seems the official word is all we are waiting on from Varitek, who truly appears to be done.

Bill Ivie is the co-founder of Full Spectrum Baseball and the founder of Ivie League Productions.